Anonymous to RT: ‘Internet has power to bring down regimes’

The Internet is the greatest tool of free speech ever created that gave voice to billions of people along with power to bring down regimes, a member of the Anonymous movement told RT, adding that such power terrifies governments around the globe.

Crowds of people wearing masks to hide their faces have marched
in hundreds of cities all over the world, marking the Guy Fawkes
Day with a global ‘Million Mask March’. As the Anonymous movement
protested against government corruption, corporate malfeasance
and the expanding surveillance state, RT caught up with Old
Holborn, member of the movement.

“The internet has the power to bring down regimes. That is
what terrifies them. That is why they are now monitor our phone
calls, they monitor our emails, and they monitor our free speech.
It terrifies them. They have no particular jurisdiction over the
internet. It belongs to everyone,” Holborn told RT.

Often described in the media as a loose-knit collective,
Anonymous was propelled to public prominence in the last years
over a series of politically-motivated cyber-attacks on
businesses, government and religious institutions. Anonymous
originated in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, representing the
concept of many online members that believe the anarchic space of
the internet belongs to the people.

“The internet is the greatest tool we have for free speech
and everywhere on the planet we all have a voice now – 7 billion
of us. Yes of course, somebody is going to get upset at something
somebody else says. But we have to realize we all have a voice.
We're all equal. If you don't like it, don't listen to it. That
is freedom of choice and freedom of expression,” Holborn
says.

The agenda of those behind Wednesday's protests is wide-ranging.
The movement is said to be growing in strength as global citizens
report greater dissatisfaction with their local governments and
because of the perception that corporation has a stranglehold on
international politics.

“We are not looking for a unified alternative. What we are
looking for is for government to leave us alone. It is that
simple. That is why we don't have leaders, it's everybody.
Anonymous is whatever you want it to be,” the activist told
RT.